What to eat in Rome – 20 dishes you can’t miss!

Are you visiting Rome and you want to taste the Italian traditional flavors? Here you are a list of Roman dishes you can’t absolutely miss!

Roman cuisine is really simple, yet flavorful; the origin of its dishes have their roots in the poor man meals, that’s why it’s often described as a “cucina povera“. As a matter of fact only few ingredients are often used to create courses known all around the world.

If you’re looking for traditional Roman flavors, here you are a list of the 20 Roman dishes you need to eat when in Rome!

Supplì
The supplì is an Italian snack typically made in Rome. It’s a fried ball of rice with a piece of warm and stringy mozzarella inside. We say that the mozzarella “deve filà”, which means that if the mozzarella isn’t melted sufficiently the supplì won’t be that tasty!
Carbonara
Carbonara is a pasta dish made with egg, pecorino (hard cheese), guanciale and pepper. The real carbonara is only made with guanciale (no pancetta, please!) and no parmesan as well!
Carciofo alla giudìa
The Carciofi alla giudìa are part of the traditional Roman Jewish dishes: a visit to the Roman Ghetto near Trastevere to taste the original ones is a must of your culinary tour! It’s a deep fried artichoke.
Maritozzo
The maritozzo is a classic sweet pastry stuffed with whipped cream.
Amatriciana
The amatriciana is a pasta dish made with guanciale, pecorino cheese from Amatrice and tomato. It’s a course that has its root from Amatrice (in the Lazio region) yet now is one of the most popular pasta of the Roman cuisine.
Saltimbocca alla romana
The saltimbocca alla romana made of rolled veal with prosciutto and sage and cooked in white wine and butter.
Bignè di San Giuseppe
The Bignè di San Giuseppe can be traslated as St. Joseph’s Day Cream Puffs, traditionally made for Father’s Day in Rome. It’s a cooked dough with butter and eggs, deep fried and filled with pastry cream.
Trapizzino
The Trapizzino is a popular modern street food, it’s a pocket shaped pizza made with mother yeast filled with traditional dishes.
Coda alla vaccinara
The coda alla vaccinara is an oxtail and celery stew.
Cacio e Pepe
Cacio e pepe is a pasta dish made only with black pepper and pecorino cheese.
Porchetta
The porchetta is a really savoury and fat boneless pork roast; it’s stuffed with liver garlic, rosemery and fennel. It’s a typical dish of Ariccia, a province of Rome.
Crostata di visciole
The crostata di visciole is a sour cherry tart which is part of the traditional Roman Jewish dishes.
Trippa al sugo
The trippa al sugo is a dish prepared with tripe, onions, tomatoes, white wine, pecorino cheese, celery and carrots.
Fiore di zucca fritto
The fiore di zucca fritto is a fried courgette flower filled with mozzarella and an anchovy.
Grattachecca
Like you’ve seen, Roman dishes have few desserts! The grattachecca is a dessert typically sold in kiosks: it’s made of hand-shaved ice flavored with different kind sweet sugar syrup.
Gnocchi alla romana
The gnocchi alla romana are soft dumplings made from semolina, milk, butter, parmesan and egg. They’re cooked in the hoven with butter and breadcrumbs.
Fave con pecorino
Fresh fava beans with pecorino cheese are a typical Roman dish which is eaten on the 1st of May.
Rigatoni con la pajata
The rigatoni con la pajata are intestines of an unweaned calf stewed with tomato sauce and served with rigatoni pasta.
Filetto di baccalà
The filetto di baccalà is a deep fried battered salt cold, which is called baccalà in Rome.
Abbacchio alla scottadito
It’s a marinated grilled little lamb cutlets.
Are you hungry? If you want to taste all those amazing Roman dishes, book here your trip to Rome!